Mid-term spree helps Piastri to trump Martins
Renault Sport got the better of the 2019 ‘Regional Formula 3’ split, despite its rejection from the FIA, which assigned the European rights for the category to the Italian-run Formula Regional. Using the same Tatuus chassis as Fregional – but with a turbocharged Renault engine instead of the Alfa powerplant – the Frenchorganised series had more competitive teams, bigger grids… and a title fight that went down to the wire.
Australian Oscar Piastri and French Renault F1 junior Victor Martins, both of whom had shone during the swansong season for the much-loved Tatuus that had served Renault so well from 2013-18, fought a gripping battle. Piastri, with the French R-ace GP team, went on a mid-season winning spree that put him into a very solid position in the points, but Martins, representing Dutch squad MP Motorsport, hauled him back with fantastic form as the year drew to a close. Piastri won seven
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19-26 DECEMBER 2019 times, Martins six, with the points margin just 7.5 in the Victorian’s favour.
Piastri, an alumnus of British F4, arguably got the nod because of his ability to charge back from first-lap trouble. At Paul Ricard, an incident on the first lap preceded a fightback from 18th to sixth; at Barcelona, he went from 17th to fifth after being spun around at Turn 1. Martins, on the other hand, was unlucky to retire at the Nurburgring with suspension failure before the start, and only claimed half-points for a Hungaroring win in a race red-flagged early.
Alexander Smolyar, one of the numerous cadets of the Russian SMP Racing scheme, was in the title hunt for half of the season. He faded to third in the end, but few will forget his incredible Silverstone battle with R-ace team-mate Piastri – Smolyar was leading when a tie rod broke. Likewise, Martins’s MP team-mate Lorenzo Colombo was a force, the Italian winning thrice in a purple mid-season patch. Another R-ace driver, Brazilian Caio Collet, was top rookie on his graduation as French F4 champion, and scored points in 19 of the 20 races, but rarely looked a threat to win.